Sector movers: Cyclicals drop sharply amid risk of Fed surprise

Cyclicals paced losses on the FTSE 350 at the start of the week as speculation mounted over the weekend that the US central bank might decide to surprise financial markets with a 75 basis point interest rate hike.

Key to that assessment was the recent further move higher in consumer expectations for inflation in the US even as some analysts tabled the possibility that consumer price inflation might be set to accelerate at least a bit further.

Automobiles & Parts, Travel & Leisure and Retailers were all to be found at the bottom of the pile.

Dragging on the former too were reports that officials in China might be pondering reintroducing Covid-19 restrictions in Beijing and Shanghai.

Top performing sectors so far today

Non-life Insurance 2,981.28 +0.34%

Telecommunications Service Providers 3,139.98 +0.32%

Alternative Energy 0.00 0.00%

Alternative Investment Instruments NULL 0.00%

Automobiles and related providers NULL 0.00%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Automobiles & Parts 1,876.01 -9.62%

Travel & Leisure 5,841.92 -5.20%

Retailers 2,916.46 -4.67%

Electronic & Electrical Equipment 8,467.59 -4.04%

Leisure Goods 16,000.13 -4.04%